Hello Folks, I come to you as a father of four little children. Their mother and I divorced and she chose to move them and herself to Puerto Rico (her homeland). I agreed and chose to also move there to be the daddy that I am suppose to be for them. I left my job of eighteen years and a stable lifestyle to start afresh in a new country.
After shipping my few possessions and my plane fare, I was left with just enough to rent a small home and pay for the utilities to be turned on. I searched for work and for the first four months I could not find anything. I sold everything I had of value to pay the rent, utilities, and food. I am diabetic and also had to pay for my insulin until I could get medical assistance. I did get food stamps of $90 a month but, they were cancel when I start working two months ago. I make $600 a month part time as a cook. That has been the only job I could find due to the recession and the region where I live. I had thought about moving to another area but, they are all too expensive for me to afford and besides, I would be further away from my kids defeating the purpose of me coming here in the first place.
Presently, my electricity is two months behind. I owe the landlady $50 more for this past month's rent and the next rent is due on July 3rd. My old $200 car needs work on the front wheels but, I am still driving it to work until I can afford to fix them. I am not sure how much it will cost but, I will eventually have to get the work done or the car will be inoperative. It's inspection, tag and insurance will also expire at the end of this month as well and that will cost me approximately $200 to renew. Here in PR when you renew your tag you pay for the insurance for the year too. I have little food and I have no propane to cook with. Fortunately, I work as a cook, so I can eat at my job on the days I am working. I have no a/c or hot water in my home. The mosquitoes are terrible. The house is concrete but, the roof is in bad shape. When it rains, water pours in streams in the bathroom and the living room.
I am blessed that I now can spend more time with my children than when I lived in the states and the quality of their life is much better in that respect. I don't have money to buy them anything and for last Christmas I sold my wedding ring to get them presents. I love my children so very much and want to stay here to help raise them like it should be with both a mom and a dad. She is asking for support now and I am trying to pay her $150 a month which is not a lot but, it goes real far here in PR. I give her what I can.
If Anyone can send anything, it would be really appreciated. Even if it is a donation of $1.00, it would help. I have never asked anyone for help before but, I feel that for the sake of my children having their daddy nearby in their lives it is worth it to me to ask for help. For each donation, I will send a thank you letter. Please send your donations to Ernest Meyerhoff, Calle E #30 Interior, La Playa Salinas, Puerto Rico 00751 Thank you! I also have a paypal account if you prefer to help that way too.
